A Lawrence man pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated incest, for engaging in sexual activity with his 16-year-old daughter, said the Office of Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson.
The 35-year-old man entered his plea after a jury was selected to hear the case and opening arguments were delivered, prosecutors said. The defendant is not being named by the Lawrence Journal-World, to protect the identity of the victim who shares his last name.
Prosecutors said the man engaged in sexual relations with his child between Sept. 1, 2008, and Oct. 16, 2008. Lawrence police said the crime occurred in more than one location.
Officers began investigating the case when the victim’s out-of-state mother reported finding sexual pictures on her daughter’s cell phone, prosecutors said. The defendant was arrested in January.
“If not for an alert parent, this victim could have continued to be abused,” Branson said in a news release. “I urge all parents to talk to your kids about what they are doing online and on their phone.”
Branson's office said the suspect faces between 31 months and 136 months in prison, depending on his criminal history. He’s scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Paula Martin at 9 a.m. Sept. 4.
Comments
Scattered 3 years, 11 months ago
Is this the same judge who basically "let go" the man who raped the 13 year old????
Why doesn't Douglas County get rid of her? I remember being in Lawrence and seeing the protests.
Sickening and outrageous.
jayhawklawrence 3 years, 11 months ago
That was a very unfair comment. The man has not been sentenced yet.
RogueThrill 3 years, 11 months ago
I am not seeing what the judge did wring in this case.
mrbig 3 years, 11 months ago
Absolutely disgusting that this guy might only serve 2 1/2 years after molesting his daughter for who knows how long..
Onasis 3 years, 11 months ago
31 months is not enough. No time will be justice for what he put his daughter through. Nothing will give her back her innocence, security, or self respect. I pray this girl can recover and grow to be a strong young woman.
bad_dog 3 years, 11 months ago
"...after molesting his daughter for who knows how long.."
From the article above: "Prosecutors said the man engaged in sexual relations with his child between Sept. 1, 2008, and Oct. 16, 2008."
Leslie Swearingen 3 years, 11 months ago
Whereas if he were a very good parent but on occasion smoked weed he would be sent to prison for how long? Go figure. There are two sex abuse cases in the paper today. Maybe people do things like that because they can and because it gives them pleasure and because they don't think there will be any consequences for their acts.
Jersey_Girl 3 years, 11 months ago
Irish - I haven't been reading the paper on a regular basis, but when I do read it, I do seem to be noticing an increase in articles about sexual abuse crimes in Lawrence. Now, is that because there is an increase in abuse or an increase in abusers being caught?
Onasis 3 years, 11 months ago
I firmly believe Power is the Root of All Evil (as opposed to money). These acts are about power.
Sigmund 3 years, 11 months ago
Jersey_Girl (Anonymous) says… "Now, is that because there is an increase in abuse or an increase in abusers being caught?"
Or is it because of increased coverage in the papers you are reading?
Jersey_Girl 3 years, 11 months ago
Hmmmm, don't know, Sigmund. This is the only paper I read (sad but true). LJW?
kugrad 3 years, 11 months ago
Sadistnation, your comment is totally uncalled for, way out of line, beyond the pale, wholly offensive, and ignorant beyond belief. Obviously, you have never been a victim of abuse.
kugrad 3 years, 11 months ago
Thank you LJW for removing sadistnation's comment and thanks to whomever reported it.
cthulhu_4_president 3 years, 11 months ago
"Or is it because of increased coverage in the papers you are reading?"
Ding ding! We have a winner! These acts are not more common, but reporting about it is.
sadistnations, you are an idiot.
OldEnuf2BYurDad 3 years, 11 months ago
"31 months is not enough."
Keep in mind: he'll be a registered sex offender for life. And that burden will punish him in many, many ways.
srj 3 years, 11 months ago
Sadistnations, I see what you getting at, and was thinking the same thing. Even if she was "willing", it does not make it right, he should have known better, and for that he should be locked up for awhile. If she does not think what she did was wrong now, she will down the road, at it will hurt even more.
puddleglum 3 years, 11 months ago
maybe we could just send him back to missouri?
cthulhu_4_president 3 years, 11 months ago
srj, sadist was in no way correct. If the victim enjoyed the act at all, that means that she was manipulated into enjoying it by an adult in a position of power, who took advantage of that power for his own selfish, criminal desires. What will hurt "down the road" is when she fully realizes how she was taken advantage of. Whether she thought she liked it or not is the issue. I can't even believe that I'm addressing this as if sadist even had a valid point.
You cannot blame the victim, no matter how hard you try.
Wallythewalrus 3 years, 11 months ago
Perhaps he is not from missouri but a religious person. See thereligionofpeace.com
srj 3 years, 11 months ago
I did not think I was blaming her. Even take out the fact it was his daughter, anyone having sex with a minor has to face the consequences, even if it was "consensual" (will cut some slack if they lie about there age.)
Pywacket 3 years, 11 months ago
bad dog~ Yes--that's how long the authorities know about and what he's apparently being charged with. But do you really think that's when it started?
Look at it this way: Jane is a normal 16-year-old girl who has has a normal (nonsexual) relationship with her dad all her life. All of a sudden, when she's 16, he starts a sexual relationship with her. Would she not go totally ballistic, fight him, call her mother or the police, and otherwise raise holy hell? Or is it likely that the "relationship" would continue for weeks, with Jane posting explicit pix on her cell phone, and leaving it to chance that someone would discover what was going on?
At the very least, that girl was being "groomed," as it's called, for a long time by the pervert. It's very possible that the abuse was ongoing. Hence, mrbig's comment about it going on for "who knows how long" makes perfect sense, even if the authorities are only talking about a particular time period that they know about.
What a total creep.
Mike Blur 3 years, 11 months ago
Directed at "Scattered":
All judges are up for retention election every 4 years. Routinely, they are "voted back in" at astounding rates--80 to 90 percent plus. Imagine the average politician getting those numbers!
For over 25 years, I have rejected all judge retention elections with a couple exceptions. How did you vote last time Paula Martin was up for retention? Did you even bother showing up to vote?
gsxr600 3 years, 11 months ago
Ok, so you aren't releasing the name..... He's still going to show up on the sex registry with the age of the victim so why does it matter? If I lived next to the prick, I would want to know.
RogueThrill 3 years, 11 months ago
If you lived next to the prick you would be in prison.
Jersey_Girl 3 years, 11 months ago
I wouldn't want to be a 35-year-old man with a 16-year-old daughter whose mother lives out of town right now.
compmd 3 years, 11 months ago
Are people in this town taking both crazy AND stupid pills? Another sex crime, and a few clueless comments from the peanut gallery here.
If I could beat some of you with a book of Kansas statutes to make you learn them so you could stop b!tching about "oh that judge was too lenient" or "he should get more time!" I would. Until that blissful day is upon me though, go read the statutes and sentencing guidelines. As stated, aggravated incest would be a severity level 7 person felony, and unless the sentencing has changed or he had multiple charges and a criminal history, he's facing more time than the guidelines suggest.
srj 3 years, 11 months ago
....but if he was facing a long sentence, he would not be pleading guilty. And I am not sure the DA knows what the the girl would say on the stand.
maxcrabb 3 years, 11 months ago
Mike Blur- I'm with you on voting out judges almost routinely. If it works for DARPA, it should work for the judicial system!
(Yes, there's a little humor AND truth in that statement.)
KEITHMILES05 3 years, 11 months ago
Does this prove there isn't much to do in Lawrence?
Eride 3 years, 11 months ago
"Are people in this town taking both crazy AND stupid pills? Another sex crime, and a few clueless comments from the peanut gallery here.
If I could beat some of you with a book of Kansas statutes to make you learn them so you could stop b!tching about “oh that judge was too lenient” or “he should get more time!” I would. Until that blissful day is upon me though, go read the statutes and sentencing guidelines. As stated, aggravated incest would be a severity level 7 person felony, and unless the sentencing has changed or he had multiple charges and a criminal history, he's facing more time than the guidelines suggest."
I wanted to quote this again for effect. You idiots need to read this comment above and get it into your head. I am in agreement with this poster, I am sick and tired of uneducated online sycophants posting outrageous comments online without even taking the slightest amount of effort to educate themselves. Most of all, I am alarmed at how uneducated you guys are, even on the issue of your basic rights, much less the law in general.
Eride 3 years, 11 months ago
KS Statutes: http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-statutes/index.do
Sentencing Grid: http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/da/sentencing_grid.html
If I didn't already know the above link it would have taken me about 30 seconds to find both of those resources using google. There isn't an excuse people, educate yourselves!
KatWrangler 3 years, 11 months ago
RogueThrill (Anonymous) says… If you lived next to the prick you would be in prison.
LOL Too funny!
BlackVelvet 3 years, 11 months ago
duhhhhhh????????????????????????????
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